1 Kings 9:13

And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? [Cf. 1 Kings 20:32 . It would seem, at first sight, as if this form of speech was then, as now, the usage of courts. But the Fellahin of Palestine, the "modern Canaanites," still address each other as "my father" or "my brother." See Conder, "Tent-work," p. 332]. And he called them the land of Cabul [The meaning of this word is quite uncertain. The LXX . reads οριον , which shows that they must have read גבול instead of כבול ; indeed, it is possible that the words have the same meaning (Gesen.) Stanley thinks these cities formed the boundary between the two kingdoms, and refers to the use of ὅρια in Matthew 15:21 ; Luke 6:17 , etc. According to Josephus, χαβαλὼν , is a Phoenician word, meaning displeasing ; but his etymologies are to be received with caution, and Gesenius justly pronounces this a mere conjecture from the context. Thenius and Ewald regard the word as compounded of כ and בל = as nothing ; Keil connects it with the root חבל , which would yield the meaning pawned or pledged, and hence concludes that, this strip of territory was merely given to Hiram as a security for the repayment of a loan (see below on Luke 6:14 ); while Bähr derives it from כבל , an unused root, akin to the preceding— vinxit, constrinxit, and would see in it a name bestowed on the region because of its confined geographical position. He does not understand the word, however, as a term of contempt. "How," he asks, "could Hiram give the district a permanent name which contained a mockery of himself rather than of the land?" But the word was obviously an expression of disparagement, if not disgust, which, falling from Hiram's lips, was caught up and repeated with a view to mark not so much his displeasure as Solomon's meanness. But it is not necessary to find a meaning for the word, for it is to be considered that a city Bearing this name existed at that time and in this neighbourhood ( Joshua 19:27 ), the site of which, in all probability, is marked by the modern Kabul, eight miles east of Accho. It is possible, indeed, that it may have been one of the "twenty cities" ( Luke 6:11 ) given to Hiram. And if this city, whether within or without the district of Galilee, were notorious for its poverty or meanness, or conspicuous by its bleak situation, we can at once understand why Hiram should transfer the name to the adjoining region, even if that name, in itself, had no special significance] unto this day. [See on 1 Kings 8:8 .]